Mark 15

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

1And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate.[#Matt. 27:1; Luke 22:66; #3:6; #Matt. 27:2; #Luke 23:1; John 18:28; #10:33; #Luke 3:1; 13:1; Acts 3:13; 4:27; 1 Tim. 6:13]

2And Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” And he answered him, “You have said so.”[#Matt. 27:11-14; Luke 23:2, 3; John 18:29-38; #9, 12, 18, 26; Matt. 2:2; John 18:39; 19:3;; #1 Tim. 6:13]

3And the chief priests accused him of many things.

4And Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.”[#John 19:10]

5But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.[#4]

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

6Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked.[#Matt. 27:15-26; Luke 23:18-25; John 18:39, 40; 19:16]

7And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.[#Acts 3:14; #Acts 5:36, 37]

8And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them.

9And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

10For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.[#John 12:19]

11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead.

12And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?”[#John 19:15]

13And they cried out again, “Crucify him.”

14And Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.”[#Luke 23:41; John 8:46]

15So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.[#10:34; Isa. 50:6; 53:5; Luke 23:16; John 19:1; #15:15 A Roman judicial penalty, consisting of a severe beating with a multi-lashed whip containing embedded pieces of bone and metal]

Jesus Is Mocked

16And the soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the governor’s headquarters), and they called together the whole battalion.[#Matt. 27:27-31; John 19:2, 3; #Matt. 26:3; #John 18:28, 33; 19:9; Acts 23:35; Phil. 1:13 (Gk.); #15:16 Greek; #Acts 10:1; #15:16 Greek ; a tenth of a Roman legion, usually about 600 men]

17And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him.[#Rev. 18:12, 16; Luke 23:11]

18And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”[#2]

19And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him.[#14:65; #Matt. 8:2]

20And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.[#10:34; #17; #Isa. 53:7]

The Crucifixion

21And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.[#Matt. 27:32; Luke 23:26; John 19:17]

22And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull).[#Matt. 27:33-51; Luke 23:32-38, 44-46; John 19:17-19, 23, 24, 28-30]

23And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.[#Matt. 2:11;John 19:39]

24And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take.[#Ps. 22:18]

25And it was the third hour when they crucified him.[#John 19:14; #15:25 That is, 9 a.m.]

26And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”[#2]

27And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left.[#John 18:40; #10:37; #15:27 Some manuscripts insert verse 28:]

29And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,[#Ps. 22:7; 109:25; Lam. 1:12; #Job 16:4; Jer. 18:16; Lam. 2:15; #Ps. 35:25; 40:15; #14:58]

30save yourself, and come down from the cross!”

31So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.[#Luke 4:23; #Matt. 26:53, 54; John 10:18]

32Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.[#Matt. 1:17; #John 1:49; 12:13; 26; #John 20:29; #Luke 23:39-43]

The Death of Jesus

33And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.[#15:33 That is, noon; #15:33 That is, 3 p.m.]

34And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”[#Heb. 5:7; #Ps. 22:1]

35And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”

36And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”[#Ruth 2:14; #Ps. 69:21]

37And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.[#34; #John 10:18]

38And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.[#Ex. 26:31-33; 2 Chr. 3:14]

39And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”[#Matt. 27:54-56; Luke 23:47, 49; #15:39 Some manuscripts insert; #Matt. 27:43; #15:39 Or a son]

40There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.[#John 19:25; #Ps. 38:11; #Luke 8:2, 3; #16:1; Matt. 27:56]

41When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.[#40; #Luke 2:4]

Jesus Is Buried

42And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath,[#Matt. 27:57-61; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; #Matt. 27:62]

43Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.[#Acts 13:50; 17:12; #Luke 2:25, 38]

44Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead.[#15:44 Or Pilate wondered whether he had already died; #39]

45And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.[#44]

46And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.[#15:46 Greek; #14:51; #Isa. 53:9; #Isa. 22:16; #16:4; John 11:38]

47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.[#40]

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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